NORTHWEST PORTLAND AREA INDIAN HEALTH BOARD Celebrating 30 Years of Leadership for the Pacific Northwest Tribes

NPAIHB Alumni Association Newsletter-Online Volume 1, Issue 1 Fall, 2003

Dear NPAIHB Alumni, Welcome to the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board Alumni Newsletter. If this is like a lot of my bright ideas, I’ll have regrets, but I am hopeful that this newsletter will take on a life of its own for both former employees, former delegates, and current ones too. Its purpose is to allow alumni to learn about former Board employees and delegates and to serve as a networking tool. The Board plans to provide modest support and access to our website for this newsletter. We are planning on gathering several times a year for bar-b-ques, baseball games, dinners, and just taking the time to visit with each other. Please send comments and suggestions to Sharon Fleming at choctaw@neteze.com Wishing you well. Ed Fox

Welcome to the NPAIHB Alumni Association Newsletter-Online. The newsletter will be published quarterly and will feature articles about former NPAIHB employees and their families. It is the goal of NPAIHB to provide a friendly forum for former employees to share and have fun. Our office is located at: 527 SW Hall, Suite 300 Portland, OR 97201 Phone: 503-228-4185 www.npaihb.org Inside This Issue:

Welcome from Ed Fox, NPAIHB Executive Director

What’s new in the educational arena

Planning Committee Returning Board Benefits Babies and more

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Executive Director NPAIHB

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Wren Jubilee Allen Debuts Former Western Tribal Diabetes Project Director, Kelly Gonzales-Allen and husband Chris are proud parents of a daughter, Wren Jubilee Gonzales-Allen, born August 17th. All are doing great. Mother is taking some time off and will resume her PhD studies next year. Dad was able to stay hofor several weeks and has returned to his job with the State Oregon.

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Congratulations from all of us.

Darius L. Barney Tribe: Navajo - Window Rock, Arizona Clan: Towering House People & Water That Comes Together People Address: 1529 N. Prescott St., Portland, Oregon 97217 Phone: (503) 288-4674 E-mail: dariusbarney@yahoo.com Darius, former Project Red Talon Project Assistant and California Area Diabetes Surveillance Project Assistant is currently attending Portland Community College (part-time) and will be transferring to Portland State University in the near future. Darius also works part-time for NPAIHBs Project Red Talon-HIV/AIDS Interview Testing Survey (HITS).

Anthia Nickerson E-mail: anthianickerson@earthlink.net It's been about two-and-a-half years since I left the Board and Portland (former Technical Writer, EpiCenter), and since then, so much has happened! Sam (my husband) and I moved to Chicago for a brief period where he was in graduate school at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. While in Chicago, I happily stayed connected with the Board and IHS by doing some contract work with the diabetes and tobacco projects. After Sam's graduation in June, we moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, a lovely town near New York City. Sam landed his dream job as a venture capitalist investing in healthcare and biotech companies. I have been busy getting us settled into our new home, meeting new people, and looking forward to finding a new stable where I can ride. I hope that everyone is doing well! Our door is always open should your travels take you to New York City or Connecticut!

James Oliver’s Adventures Tribe: Lummi James’ backpack (JBP) has gone on to numerous professional and recreations adventures since departing from Portland last November. James held a position with the Western Tribal Diabetes Project, working as a Specialist for the northwest tribes. JBP will start work on an MPH this fall at Oregon Health and Sciences University and will be attending classes full-time for at least the first school year. JBP did a good amount of local traveling over the summer, including trips to: Sell fireworks at Lummi, a reunion of the extended family of JBP’s human companion (also at Lummi), a 70th birthday celebration for the father of JBP’s human companion (held in Seattle, but the salmon came from Lummi), and attended the First Annual Portage Island Encampment (at Lummi). JPB is happy to be back in Portland and plans to reunite with friends, family, and climbing partner’s left behind in the temporary move to Eastern Washington.

Sharon Fleming Tribe: Choctaw/Cherokee Address: POB 478, Redwood Valley, CA 95470 E-mail: chcotaw@neteze.com Sharon is back home in the Redwoods and Mendocino Coast. She is NPAIHB Newsletter-Online Editor and formerly worked for Western Tribal Diabetes Project. “Hi everyone”

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James A. Gaudino, M.D., M.S., M.P.H. MCH Medical Epidemiologist Department of Human Services, State of Oregon Health Services--Immunization Program 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 370 Portland, OR 97232 (503) 731-4020 (Main Immun. Program voice number) (503) 872-6754 (Direct, only working after 9/3/02) Email addresses: James.A.GAUDINO@STATE.OR.US Jim Gaudino joined The EpiCenter in November 2000 as the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Medical Epidemiologist. Dr. Gaudino is also a Medical Epidemiologist with CDC's Division of Reproductive Health, Pregnancy and Infant Health Branch and a Clinical Associate Professor of Epidemiology with UW's School of Public Health. Dr. Gaudino's work focused on helping to develop a clearer understanding of the factors involved in the recently reported reduction in infant mortality among Northwest tribes and examining more current infant mortality trends. Currently, Dr. Gaudino is contributing his expertise in his new position at the Department of Human Services’ Immunization Program. Lisa Angus, MPH Lisa Angus was the Project Specialist for the Indian Community Health Profile Project. The Indian Community Health Profile instrument is intended to provide Indian communities with a feasible method for assessing their overall health status and for monitoring that status over time. Lisa worked with several tribes and with other regional Indian health programs to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of the Profile in different communities. Before joining the EpiCenter, Lisa received her MPH from Emory University in Atlanta. She worked with the Georgia Division of Public Health on a statewide violence against women needs assessment and with the CDC and Emory University on a variety of reproductive health-related projects. She also completed an injury prevention internship with the Bemidji Area IHS Office. Lisa is looking forward to contributing her skills towards her new position at the Department of Human Services Office of Family Health as their Research Analyst

Returning Employees Benefit… Former employees returning to work for NPAIHB will now enjoy an extra benefit. Delegates have given approval to former regular employees who return to work for the Board to count ½ of their previous employment at the Board toward calculating their annual leave and retirement contribution. For example, if you worked for the Board for two years and returned as a regular employee, you would be credited one year for the purpose of calculating your annual leave and tax sheltered annuity benefit rate. This benefit is meant to encourage former employees to come back to work for NPAIHB. Did you know that if you return to work for the Board within one year, your accrual rates continue as if you had never left!

Please check our website often for updates regarding our 1st Annual Alumni Gathering, coming soon.

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Did you enjoy reading this newsletter? Do you have comments or suggestions? Do know someone who should be added to our alumni assocPlease contact Sharon Fleming at: choctaw@neteze.com THANKS…

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NPAIHB Alumni Association Planning Committee Members:

Sharon Fleming Darius Barney

Anthia Nickerson

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